Girls Night
by RGoodfellow64
Summary: Chapter 9. Alternate title: Not fooling anybody, only ourselves. The holidays are past and a new year beckons, teetering on the edge of the known old and the unknown new.
1. Chapter 1

Girls Night

by RGoodfellow64

Chapter 1, March 2007

Alternate title: Breaking up is hard to do…isn't it?

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Disclaimer: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I might have stood a chance, but the force is greater in AM than this one, so nope, still not mine.

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"Excuse me, Miss?"

Kate lifted her head where she'd been staring at her drink on the bar, looked at the bartender and said, "Yes?"

He nodded to his left and said, "The gentleman over there would like to buy you a drink."

She shook her head and said, "Still not interested," at which he nodded and walked away from her, back towards the man at the other end of the bar.

"That's the third one you've said no to, Kate. Don't tell me you're feeling upset about Will!"

Kate turned to her right where Lanie was sitting beside her and said, "No. I'm really not upset."

"Well then what's wrong? You have any idea how many guys are giving you the once over here?"

"Not interested Lanie."

"Are you _sure_ you aren't upset that Will left?" Lanie asked, "Because you really are acting like it!"

"Lanie!"

"Kate, you haven't even _looked_ at a guy since he went to Boston."

Kate put her head in her hands and sighed. Without lifting her head she said, "Ok, you're right. I am mad, actually I'm pissed."

Lanie tried to say something but Kate wasn't slowing down. "What kind of guy tells you he loves you, asks you to move in with him…we actually looked at ads for apartments!"

Lanie managed to get an "Uh huh" out before Kate spoke over her. "Then he takes a job in Boston? What kind of guy _does_ that?"

"A jackass," Lanie said, surprised that she managed to get a word in edgewise.

"Right?" Kate said. Then ticking the points off on her fingers she said, "One, he never told me about the offer; two, he lied about where he was when he went for the interview, and three, when he got the job he expected me to be thrilled to just pack up and follow him like a…like a…"

Kate struggled to find the right word when Lanie said, "Like a Stepford wife or something?"

Kate picked up her glass, gave Lanie a salute and said, "Exactly!" She then took a long sip from her drink and said, "He knew how important my job is, and he still expected me to simply walk away from all I worked so hard to achieve."

Lanie was about to reply when a voice said from behind them, "What are you two lovely ladies doing sitting by yourselves?"

Kate gave a disgusted sigh while Lanie looked up to see one of the guys who'd been staring at Kate since they came in. Giving him her evil eye she said, "Having a private conversation…you know, just the two of us!"

He ignored Lanie, looked at Kate with a smile and asked, "Can I buy you a drink?"

Kate didn't even bother to look at him as she said, "Not interested."

He leaned in closer and making his voice sound sexy asked, "Then how about I buy you dinner?"

Kate looked at him and again said, "Not interested."

He reached out and touched her hand, "Well how about a dance?" he asked just before Kate pulled her hand out from under his and turned on him with a look of total disgust. "You know, my dad used to listen to a country song when I was a girl," she said in a clipped manner, it was called 'What part of No don't you understand?'"

He gave her a confused look and Lanie barked out a laugh. As he tried to think of something else to say Lanie said, "Are you blind as well as deaf? No one here is interested in having anything to do with you. Now go away!"

His come on smile disappeared and his face took on an angry look as he backed away with his hands up. "Ok, ok. No wonder you're alone, no one could put up with you!"

As he went back to his table and his friends, Kate shook her head, and then looked back to Lanie. She raised her right hand, and wiggled her pinky finger at him. Lanie almost spit out her drink as she started to laugh and his friends evidently saw it as they started laughing as well.

Lanie wiped her mouth and chin with a napkin and said, "Girl, you are sooo bad!"

Kate gave her a little smile and took another sip of her drink.

A few minutes later Lanie asked, "Are you ok Kate? Really?"

"I'm not going to deny it doesn't hurt Lanie," Kate answered. "It does, but the pain is not just about his leaving for a better job. This was the longest relationship I'd had since my first year of college." Kate sighed and added, "What really bothers me is the fact that another relationship failed. I managed to pick another guy who just isn't right for me." After a short pause she said under her breath, "It's almost like a curse."

Lanie put her hand on Kate's and said, "Sweetie, you've dated before but none for as long as with Will, and never as serious. You didn't do anything wrong here, he did. You were open to more and he walked away, that's not your fault and it's not a curse."

Kate finished her drink and looked at Lanie, "Want another or should we call it a night?"

Looking closely at her friend, Lanie could tell that she really wasn't ready to leave. Catching the eye of the bartender, Lanie pointed to her drink and Kate's empty glass to let him know they wanted another. "It's girls night Kate, we're going to close this place."

As the bartender gave them their new drinks and took the empty glasses away, Kate softly smiled and said, "Thanks for making me come out tonight Lanie."

Clinking her glass to Kate's, Lanie said, "No problem, Kate. No problem."

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**AUTHORS NOTE: This has been floating around in the back of my mind for a while now. Actually, there are a whole lot of things floating in the back of my mind…which sometimes worries me. ;-p **

**I've been thinking about this for a while and had bits and pieces of at least three other chapters written down before I finished this one. I see this as the talks between Kate and Lanie that haven't been shown on screen. **


	2. Chapter 2

Girls Night

by RGoodfellow64

Chapter 2, March 2009

Alternate title: I'll shoot him; you prove he died in his sleep. Deal?

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Disclaimer: See Chapter 1. Not only do I not own Castle or get any money for these, I don't own Star Wars either. Some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed.

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"Come on Kate, admit it. He is totally hot."

"Lanie!"

Lanie didn't catch the look in Kate's eye and just kept on talking. "That 5 o'clock shadow is really working for him too…and those eyes! Kate, did you get a chance to look at his eyes!"

Kate drained her drink and motioned to the bartender for another. Lanie looked at her and said, "Hey Kate, easy on the Tequila."

"I don't think there's enough Tequila in this bar, let alone the state, to let me forget the past few days."

Lanie smiled and asked, "Is he really that bad?"

Kate picked up her drink and swallowed it in one gulp. "Worse, Lanie. Far, far worse than I ever imagined."

"That bad huh? And to think, he's your favorite author."

Kate ordered another drink and said, "Was."

Lanie gave a little snort of amusement and said, "Yeah, right. Are you giving away all your books?"

Kate glared at Lanie, who simply smiled and took another sip of her own drink. "Didn't think so."

Kate didn't even wait for the bartender to put the drink in front of her before she grabbed it and downed it in one gulp, then requested another.

"Gimmie your keys," Lanie said.

Kate shrugged her shoulders and said, "I can hold it Lanie."

Lanie ignored what Kate said and grabbed her purse. Before Kate could take it back Lanie found her keys, took them out and put them in her own purse before handing Kate's back to her.

Lanie saw that Kate was glaring at her again, but ignored it. "Just making sure."

Kate turned away from Lanie as the bartender returned with two Tequilas, and placed them on the bar. Kate looked at her and said, "Why did you bring me two?"

The bartender pointed to her right and said, "The second is from the man at the corner table over there."

Kate turned her head to see a very good looking guy who at any other time she wouldn't mind meeting, but she shook her head no and pushed the second glass away. Looking back at the bartender she said, "I can buy my own, don't want any from him."

The bartender said, "Hearing parts of your conversation I can understand."

Kate gave a puzzled look and said, "Yeah?"

"Yeah, boyfriend trouble…" the bartender started to say when Lanie burst into laughter and exclaimed, "Oh! You have no idea!"

Two things came to Kate's mind, the first was the thought 'that's my line', and the second was the wish she'd never said that to him, it just encouraged him to try harder, but then the bartender's words registered and she exclaimed, "Boyfriend!? Not in this or any other lifetime!" Kate was visibly shaking with anger as she continued, "My God! He's…he's…Oooo!" At that, she drained her glass.

Lanie was still working on her first drink of the evening and added, "Mmmm hmmm, all that and more."

Kate looked up at the bartender and said, "Another one please."

The bartender looked closely at Kate and then asked, "Are you driving?"

Before Kate could respond, Lanie held up the car keys and said, "Go ahead, I've got an eye on her."

As the bartender walked away, Kate put her elbows on the bar and then rested her head in her hands. "A book, Lanie. He's going to write a book with a character based on me."

Lanie smiled and shook her head as Kate, head firmly in hands, waited for another drink. "I'd think you'd be excited since he's your favorite writer."

Without raising her head from her hands Kate replied, "Was."

The bartender stopped in front of Kate and looked at Lanie, "You're going to take care of her?"

"Yeah," Lanie said.

The bartender nodded and said, "Then you're cut off for the rest of the night and as for your friend here…" she paused and then placed an empty glass and the bottle of Tequila that Kate had been drinking from in front of her. "It sounds like she really needs it."

Kate looked at the bottle then back to the bartender and said, "You are a true friend," then giving an aside look at Lanie added, "Unlike this one here."

The bartender smiled, shook her head and said, "I figure there's another six shots in that bottle," before she turned back to take an order from the other side of the bar.

Lanie smiled at Kate and said, "You are so going to regret this tomorrow morning."

Kate poured herself another shot, picked up the glass and looked at it contemplatively, "If I do this right," she said before turning to look at Lanie, "I should be in so much pain tomorrow that no jury will convict me when I shoot him." She held up the glass and made a toast, "Here's to shooting him tomorrow," then downed it in one gulp.

Lanie laughed, "Girl, you know you'd never shoot him, he's your favorite author."

"Was," Kate replied, and then after a moment said, "You know, he killed off Derrick Storm, he should find out what that feels like."

As Kate poured herself another glass Lanie cautioned her, "You know what Tequila does to you Kate, maybe you should stop with the last one."

Kate shook her head and downed the glass. "I told you before; there isn't enough Tequila to make me forget the last few days."

Lanie gave Kate a calculated look, "I heard from Karpowski that Castle was a lot of fun, made folks smile."

As Kate poured another shot she said, "Murder isn't fun, Lanie. You of all people should know that."

Lanie watched as Kate drained the glass and said, "You're right, murder isn't fun, but nowhere does it say that you aren't allowed to break the tension now and then."

Kate suddenly turned to Lanie and said, "He jokes all the time! He never listens to what I say and he always butts in where he isn't wanted! He has his own key to get out of handcuffs, Lanie!"

Lanie smiled at Kate's outburst and asked, "I wonder why he needs his own key?"

Kate snorted and said, "Probably because everyone wants to lock him up for the public good."

Lanie watched as Kate lowered her head into her hands again and said, "He's going to base a book on me and Montgomery is going to let him." She sighed and said in a small voice, "What am I going to do, Lanie?"

Lanie put her arm around Kate and said, "Unless the Mayor is impeached tomorrow, you just do the best you can till he gets bored and goes someplace else."

Kate pulled her head out of her hands, looked at Lanie and said, "I never should have teased him after the Tisdale case, should I?"

"Well you did sort of light a fire under him then," Lanie answered.

"It was just so easy Lanie," Kate replied. "I don't know why, but he is just so easy to tease." She paused a moment and added, "I twisted his nose when we left the elder Tisdale's office, did I tell you that?"

"No!" Lanie exclaimed. "Why did you do that?"

"He made a comment about the case after we left and then immediately dropped it when he saw a hot dog vender and decided he wanted one."

"Huh?"

"He has the attention span of a goldfish Lanie, and I may be giving him too much credit by saying that."

"And that's when you…"

"Yep, he turned to ask me if I wanted one and it just seemed so natural to grab his nose and twist it." Kate smiled at the memory and added, "It was kind of fun punishing him like that."

"Kate Beckett, you were flirting with him!"

"No I wasn't!"

"Oh no, you can't lie your way out of this one, you were flirting with Richard Castle!"

Kate put her head in her hands again and said, "Maybe I was, just a little. But what the heck Lanie, I figured I was never going to see him again so what's the harm, you know?"

"But he called the Mayor."

Kate sighed, "Yeah, then he called the Mayor." After a few seconds she quietly asked, "What am I going to do Lanie?"

Lanie picked up the bottle of Tequila, poured another shot and handed it to Kate, "Have another drink and hope for the best."

Kate took the drink from her and downed it in one gulp, then held up the empty glass, thoughtfully looked at it for a moment and said, "I really think I ought to just shoot him."

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**AUTHORS NOTE: I have always wanted to see a scene with Kate and Lanie after that first episode, I imagine being hung over and still thinking about shooting Castle is why she glared at him when he was signing the papers and asked, "Can I shoot him now?" Man I love this show!**


	3. Chapter 3

Girls Night

Chapter 3, September 2009

Alternate title: Who'd have thought he could do that?

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Disclaimer: See chapters one and two

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They were sitting in Lanie's living room, the open bottle of wine between them along with some sliced table cheese and crackers. Of course by this time they'd made a dent in the food and the bottle was almost empty, but Lanie had been prepared and had a few others set aside in case they were needed. She looked over at Kate who was quietly nibbling on some cheese and said, "You took him back."

Kate looked over at her and said, "Yeah. Yeah I did."

Lanie took a sip of her wine, "Mmmm hmmm"

Kate raised one eyebrow and asked, "What does that mean?"

Lanie lowered the glass from her lips and said, "It means what I want it to mean."

"Which is?"

Lanie smiled and said, "Mmmm hmmm."

"Lanie!"

"You missed him."

Kate had been expecting Lanie to tease her again, not to suddenly become serious. The surprise on her face evident she said, "What?"

Lanie leaned forward, all trace of joking gone and said, "Admit it, you missed him."

Reflex made Kate give a little snort of disbelief before she sarcastically said, "Yeah, right."

Lanie reached out to grab another cracker then sat back on the couch. "Don't try to pretend you didn't. Remember me? Lanie? The one you talked to for hours on end about how betrayed you felt?"

Kate sat up straighter, almost as if that would give her more strength and said, "Well he did. I told him not to look into my mother's case and he did it anyway!"

Lanie took a sip of her wine as she watched the emotions flow across Kate's face. Just like the other times they discussed this, there was anger. The feeling of betrayal. The hurt…and almost imperceptible unless you knew Kate, sadness. Nodding her head in agreement, Lanie said, "You kicked him out and he deserved it."

Kate appreciated Lanie's quick agreement and said, "Right."

Lanie watched Kate for a moment and then said, "But you also missed him."

"Obviously not as much as you did, since all you can talk about is him."

Lanie chuckled; she managed to get Kate both uncomfortable and upset. Upset enough to finish her glass of wine and pour herself another. If their shared history had taught her anything, Lanie knew that alcohol plus Kate equaled getting almost the whole story. She finished the last sip in her own glass and used that as an excuse to open another bottle. She filled her glass, sat back on her couch and said, "Puhlease! If anyone missed him it was Ryan and Esposito."

Kate almost spit out her wine as she started to laugh. Lanie smiled as every trick she knew to get Kate to open up was working. Usually Kate kept things inside for far too long and let them fester till the feelings came out in a torrent.

It had been a while since that happened though, probably not since Will, Lanie thought. This brought back the memory of the events of last spring when Will returned to New York and tried to get back with Kate. As if he had a chance. You don't break Kate Beckett's heart and expect her to joyfully welcome you back. She has walls and if you hurt her, she will build them so high and thick that you will never get the opportunity to hurt her again. Which is why Lanie was surprised that Kate allowed Castle to come back.

As Kate's laughter died down she said to Lanie, "You should have seen the looks on their faces when the photographer was taking the pictures of Castle with the models," she paused to laugh again and said, "Their tongues were hanging out."

Lanie was laughing along with Kate trying to picture the two detectives ogling the models who were with Castle in the photo shoot. When the laughter started to die down again Lanie said, "I know how much you hated to do that interview, but you seem to have survived it."

"I really wasn't happy with the whole thing Lanie. Montgomery called me in that morning to tell me about it and didn't give me much chance to prepare."

"Why did he wait till the last minute to tell you?" Lanie asked.

Kate showed a grimace of distaste and said, "He told me he didn't want to give me enough time to think about it and call in sick."

Lanie started to laugh again, "He did? He really thought you'd call in sick?"

Kate took a sip from her glass and said, "I was furious at first, but after the case was over I started to wonder if he did that just to make sure I stayed around when Castle showed up."

Lanie nodded her head and said, "I heard through the grapevine that Castle has been in touch with Montgomery over the summer and even had your boys over a few times for some sort of video game marathons."

Kate looked at Lanie and said, "I wouldn't doubt it. Once he got back into the precinct he tried to talk to me and get me to take him back and I just kept shutting him down."

"And yet there he was, right by your side at the crime scene."

Kate scrunched her nose and said, "Yeah," then after a moment said, "Thanks for supporting me there Lanie, I really appreciated that."

Lanie clinked her glass to Kate's and said, "No problem Kate, I'm just sorry I was up in a tree or else I'd have really let him have it!"

Kate smiled and reached for another slice of cheese, put in on a cracker and was about to take a bite when Lanie asked, "Kate, can I ask you something?"

Kate was a bit hesitant to answer but then quickly nodded her head and said, "Sure."

"Have you noticed anything different with Esposito?"

"Different how?" Kate asked.

"Different with me," Lanie replied. She looked down at her glass then back up to Kate again and said, "I may be crazy, but my instincts tell me I'm not and…"

"And what?"

"And I think he's flirting with me."

"Lanie?"

"Yeah?"

"Duh."

"What?"

"Of course he's flirting with you Lanie, and don't even try to hide the fact that you're flirting right back at him."

Lanie smiled and said, "Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"Duh." Then both women burst out laughing.

After a few minutes Lanie said, "It seems different this time though."

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

"We've been flirting with each other for a couple of years now, and it's all been in fun with nothing happening…" Lanie paused to collect her thoughts.

"Yeah?" Kate asked while she watched Lanie.

"It was more 'friend zone' if you know what I mean," Lanie said.

Kate nodded her head in understanding as Lanie continued, "But with this last case it seemed…I don't know, more real. Like he really means it now, it's not just teasing."

Kate raised her glass to her lips and took a sip as she thought about what Lanie said. She was correct, it did seem that Esposito was a bit more serious when he was flirting with Lanie. Of course, she had been more concerned that Castle was back with her, well, forced on her by Montgomery, to notice much…and then there was that whole having to get him out alive from the Russians at the poker game thing.

"Kate?"

Kate came out of her thoughts of saving Castle and looked back at Lanie, "Sorry, Lanie, my mind was back on the case. As for Esposito, you know there's only one way to find your answer."

Lanie nodded her head, "Right. Be more real back at him." She stopped for a minute and stared at the table in front of her then said, "I don't know if I want that now or not." She turned to look at Kate and noticed that she had one eyebrow raised in question.

"I don't know if I want anything serious or just want to keep it light and fun. Serious scares me Kate, you know that, it scares you too."

Kate nodded her head while Lanie continued, "So I think for now I'll just let things stand where they are." She smiled and took a sip of her wine, "Who knows, maybe I'll change my mind and rock his world."

With a big grin on her face, Kate clinked her glass with Lanie's and they both took a drink. After a few moments Lanie quietly asked, "Why did you take Castle back?"

Kate sighed and stared at the small amount of wine in her glass before she said, "He apologized Lanie, a real, heartfelt apology that asked for nothing in return."

Lanie's mouth opened in shock. "Richard Castle?" At Kate's affirmative nod, Lanie quickly gulped down the rest of her wine and said, "Really?"

Kate nodded again and said, "Really, Lanie. He put it right out there and then walked away, he didn't ask for a thing and he didn't expect anything either."

"Wow," Lanie said softly.

"Yeah, wow," Kate agreed. Then after a minute of staring at her wine she added, "I never thought he could be real, Lanie. Not at all."

"Didn't you say he was real with his daughter?" Lanie asked.

Kate shrugged her shoulders, "It was only a few times I saw them together and he could have been acting, but he proved that he can do real."

"Wow," Lanie said again, then added, "Too bad he doesn't do that all the time."

Kate smiled and said, "I can hope Lanie, after all, stranger things have happened."

Lanie laughed and said, "True, but don't go holding your breath or anything."

"Believe me, Lanie, I know." Kate nodded with a smile. "I know."

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**AUTHORS NOTE:** **Girls night isn't just for Kate to get things off her mind. Talking to your friends is a two way street, they listen to you, you listen to them and you support each other the best you can. Besides, Kate can't **_**always**_** want to kill Castle. Right? ;-)**


	4. Chapter 4

Girls Night

Chapter 4, February 2010

by RGoodfellow64

Alternate title: Sometimes things just sneak up on you.

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Disclaimer: See chapter's 1 and 2

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"This is a nice place," Lanie said as she took a sip of her wine.

"Yeah, Ryan said he brought his girlfriend here and they liked how quiet it was," Kate said, adding, "He said it allowed them to talk and really get to know one another."

"Esposito says he doesn't really have a girlfriend," Lanie said.

Kate raised an eyebrow and just glanced at her friend before quelling a smile that wanted to come out. "Esposito?"

A surprised look came on Lanie's face and as she tried to recover, Kate's smile did finally appear, "Oh come on Lanie, you didn't honestly think I would miss the flirting going on, did you?"

Lanie looked down at the table and blushed before raising her head and saying, "Yeah, well, I'm keeping it light for now."

"Mmmm hmmm."

"What do you mean by that?"

Kate smiled, "Oh, nothing."

"Yeah, right," Lanie said, sarcastically.

After about a minute of silence Lanie asked, "What about you and Castle?"

Kate had been about to take another sip of her wine when she stopped and looked at Lanie in surprise, "Me and Castle? What do you mean me and Castle?"

"_You_ may be blind," Lanie replied, "But I'm not."

With an incredulous look on her face Kate asked, "Did you start drinking before you came here?"

Lanie glared at Kate who managed to hide a smile and said, "Well?"

Lanie's eyes narrowed and she said, "You know there's something there between you…"

Kate sighed and said, "Lanie…"

Lanie put her hand up like a traffic cop to stop Kate. "Really? You wanna go there?"

"Lanie, there is nothing there, we're…" she paused as she searched for the correct word. "Friends. Friends Lanie, just friends." At the unbelieving look Lanie gave her Kate quickly added, "Work friends."

"Lanie shook her head, "You know, for such a smart woman you really are dumb sometimes."

Kate picked up her glass of wine and said, "Thanks, I love you too."

Lanie grinned and said, "Work friends?"

A puzzled look came on her face as Kate said, "Yes?"

Lanie's smile bloomed, "I thought you were his work wife."

Kate was so surprised by that she didn't even realize her mouth was hanging open. "Huh?"

Still grinning, Lanie said, "You heard me."

"How did you…" Kate sputtered as she tried to collect herself.

Lanie waved her hands in an airy fashion and said, "You guys were overheard," she paused and added, "You know, if you two are going to have conversations like that, you may want to speak more privately or quietly."

Kate shook her head in denial, "Lanie?"

Lanie was on a roll and knew she had Kate at a disadvantage, even though neither one of them had enough to drink yet. "And what about your date?" she asked Kate.

"What date?"

"You and Castle."

Kate leaned forward and said in a tight voice, "I never went out with Castle."

"You so did!"

"Lanie!"

"Ok, ok, I admit you didn't start out going on a date with Castle, but you did end up having dinner with him."

The look of shock was still on Kate's face, "Huh? Lanie, what are you talking about?"

Lanie leaned forward towards Kate and said, "I set you up with a date. Mr. July in last years FDNY calendar. You remarked that they put the hot ones in the summer months, remember?"

"Yeah, Brad…"

"Yeah," Lanie said, interrupting, "Brad Decker."

"So?"

"So _you_ came to me, told me you had no life, that you were tired of quiet and wanted loud, that I had been trying to set you up on a date and you were there and ready. Any of that sound familiar?"

Kate grimaced at the memory, "So?"

"So who did you end up with?"

"We had a case, Lanie!"

"Who. Did. You. End. Up. With?"

Kate pulled back to put some distance between herself and Lanie. "Look, the portions were tiny, because of the case I didn't even get a chance to eat anything…"

"Will you just answer the question?"

"Geez, Lanie, you don't have to get so upset."

"I set you up with a hot date and you end up dumping him and have burgers with Castle!"

"Yeah, well…"

"Well, what?"

"The hot date looked hot but he was so self absorbed even Castle noticed it."

"Ahhh, we're finally getting somewhere."

"Well please fill me in because I'm clueless here."

"Clueless is right," Lanie mumbled.

"What was that?"

"I said…" Lanie paused and thought a moment. Kate knew her feelings, she was aware of what Lanie was saying, but no one was ever able to force Kate Beckett into doing anything. Lanie sighed and realized she was going about this in the wrong way.

Kate's look of determination turned to one of puzzlement and she said, "Lanie?"

Lanie put both hands on the table and leaned towards her friend, "Kate, I'm not trying to catch you at something or trick you into saying anything. It's just you and me here, and you know I only want you to be happy."

Kate was even more puzzled than before. This wasn't usual for Lanie when they went out for a girl's night. She realized that Lanie was serious, very serious and knew she had to respond the same way. "I…it's…I really try not to think about it Lanie."

Lanie kept her face still but inside she was smiling, Kate finally admitted that she had feelings for Castle. Finally! Now all she had to do was get Kate to do something about it. Maybe she hasn't lost the money she bet on them yet. These thoughts only took a few seconds and Lanie said, "I get it Kate. I mean, he hangs around and gets in the way and…"

Kate shook her head, "No, Lanie. He's gotten much better, he's been a big help on a few cases and he actually seems to care about the victims and their families."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. Came as a complete surprise to me, but I have to say I like it." Kate paused a moment then added, "He'll never hear that from you either, right?"

Lanie snorted and waved her hand, "You don't even need to go there girl."

"I know Lanie, thanks."

Lanie smiled, "Hey, what are friends for?" She then grinned and said, "So you never told me, how was the wedding?"

Kate shook her head, "I can't believe she invited me Lanie, she doesn't know me at all."

"But you helped find the killer and cleared her fiancé of any part in the crime."

"That's true, but Castle had a lot to do with that."

Lanie nodded her head, "So you met the one that got away", she said, making quotation mark signs in the air. "What did you think of her?"

Kate gave a bark of a laugh and said, "One that got away? Lanie, there is no mythical one that got away, either they're meant for you or they aren't."

Lanie shook her head, "Sorry, not true. I've known too many people who realized too late what they gave up and have never really been happy since."

Kate stared at her for a moment then went back to her wine when Lanie said, "So what did you think of her?

"Kyra?" Kate asked. At Lanie's nod she said, "My first thought was that she was real, and I never thought he did real, but he keeps surprising me Lanie."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I told him not to see her and he did anyway, but then he told me."

Lanie wasn't sure what the look in Kate's eyes was, but it looked suspiciously like respect. "He did?"

"Yeah, he did. Then even though you could tell he still felt something for Kyra, he did the right thing."

"Another surprise?"

"Yeah," Kate said. Her eyes looked down at her glass of wine and after a brief pause with her voice showing how confused she was, said once again, "He keeps surprising me, Lanie."

Kate sat quietly after saying that and Lanie found it hard not to get up to whoop and holler in joy. Lanie could see that Kate wasn't even aware how much she thought of Castle, or how much she liked him. As the silence dragged on for over a minute Lanie asked, "That was your first impression, what was the second?"

"She wasn't right for him."

Lanie was surprised, "Really?"

Kate looked up from her wine, "Really," she said with a finality in her voice that let Lanie know she wasn't going to say anything more.

Lanie didn't want to let it go and was about to ask Kate what she meant by that, but noticed the pensive look on her face and decided not to. She held off and they were silent again, just occasionally sipping from their glasses. A good quiet. The quiet of two friends who don't need words to be there for each other. Lanie could see that Kate was thinking about something, something that she probably didn't know what to do with. She was about to ask when Kate softly spoke, "She said, 'He's all yours' before she left the precinct."

Lanie was sure that Kate didn't realize she'd said that aloud. It sounded more as if she was talking to herself and it just came out. She watched as Kate picked up her glass and took another sip, looking out at nothing in particular, but thinking hard. Lanie knew that those thoughts were about Castle. No one could confuse Kate and turn her all around as he could.

Lanie picked up her own wine, took a sip and allowed herself to smile into the glass. Kate was obviously torn by her feelings for Castle. 'The coming months should be very interesting' Lanie thought to herself, 'Yep, very, very interesting.'

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**AUTHORS NOTE: One of the great things about season 2 was seeing the changes slowly happening between Beckett and Castle. Something was definitely happening, feelings were changing and growing and I thought those two episodes, 'The Third Man' and 'A Rose Forever After', really show those changes. Both our hero's were confused by their feelings and thoughts for the other, Rick for more than just sex from Kate, and Kate learning that Castle could really be trusted…possibly with her heart.**


	5. Chapter 5

Girls Night

Chapter 5, May 2010

Alternate Title: I hope you know what you're doing.

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Disclaimer: See chapters one and two.

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The case had been a hard one with the combination of a robbery and murder, but it was over and Kate and Lanie were waiting for the waitress to return with their drinks. Lanie leaned forward over the table and asked, "Ok, what's going on?" in a manner that made Kate feel she was being interrogated.

"What do you mean?"

Lanie pulled back as the waitress arrived with their drinks. After she placed them in front of the two women and walked away Lanie said, "You're deflecting, answering a question with a question."

Kate picked up the glass and took a sip of the wine, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Lanie took a large sip of her own wine and said, "I hear a certain robbery detective is flirting with you and that you're flirting back."

"So?" Kate asked with her right eyebrow raised. "We're dating."

"Uh, huh, dating. Dating as in seeing each other the way you told me the last time I brought him up?"

"Umm."

"A good looking detective shows up and you start getting all flirty, yet you manage to hold off on Castle, who is a fine specimen of manhood by the way, and cost me money on the bets."

Kate shook her head, "What?"

"So what about Castle?" Lanie asked. "Weren't you living with him a couple of weeks ago?"

Kate shook her head, "I wasn't living with him…" she paused as Lanie gave her a skeptical look. "Really, I could have stayed with my dad."

Lanie looked at Kate and snorted in disbelief.

Kate put down her glass and said, "Really! The Captain ordered me to stay there when Dunn blew up my apartment!"

Lanie looked at Kate with an expression that silently said she didn't believe a word she said. "And after you caught him?"

"It was only for a little more than a week and I spent more time looking for a new place than staying there!"

Lanie rolled her eyes and said, "Uh huh, go ahead and keep telling yourself that."

"Huh?"

Lanie took another sip of her wine, and looked at Kate. She honestly didn't seem to understand what was going on here. "What does Castle think of all this?"

"Lanie, he's only here for research, why should he think about this at all?"

Lanie shook her head and said, "Kate, the man ran into a burning building for you." She touched Kate's wrist and added, "He found, then fixed your father's watch and opened his home to you. The same home where his daughter lives."

"What does she have to do with anything?"

"It shows the amount of trust he has in you, that he let you around his daughter. He protects her better than Uncle Sam protects Fort Knox!"

"Again, so?" Kate asked.

"So he's proved that his feelings for you are more than casual, and weren't you feeling something for him?"

Kate stared at her glass for a few seconds before she lifted it to her lips and took a large sip. "Yeah, well, he has the Ellie Monroe's of the world to keep him company, he doesn't need me."

"This robbery detective you're dating…"

"Demming. Tom Demming."

"Demming. Think he'd run into a burning building for you?"

"Lanie!"

"Kate, you have to see that Castle's not happy with Demming."

Kate looked at Lanie and her eyes hardened, "He doesn't have to be."

"I hear the two of them were like rutting bulls the other day," Lanie remarked.

Kate smiled, "Yeah. It was kinda funny to see them, and ridiculous for Tom to act that way. There's no competition with Castle."

Lanie stared at Kate and asked, "You don't think so?"

Kate gave a quiet snort, "Of course. I'm dating Tom and Castle's just…" she paused as she tried to find the right word before she finally settled on saying, "Castle."

"Yeah, he is in a class all by himself."

"Well, so is Tom," Kate replied.

Lanie gave Kate another skeptical look and asked, "So he's your new partner now?"

Kate had been about to take another sip but stopped in surprise. "What? No!"

Lanie raised her eyebrows in addition to the skeptical look on her face. "Really? That's not what I heard. It seems you take Tom to crime scenes, you take him with you to interrogation and you build theory with him."

"Your point?"

"Those are things you do with your partner," Lanie paused, smiled and added, "You may remember you pointed that out to Castle when he built theory with Agent Shaw."

The look on Kate's face almost made Lanie laugh out loud. Kate always hated to have her own words come back to bite her. She tapped the table with her finger and said, "You may not remember, but I distinctly remember you complaining that Castle was _your_ partner and should be going over the case with _you_, not Shaw."

Kate shook her head, "Tom's not my partner, he's my..." she paused and then added in a voice that said she wasn't quite sure of herself, "boyfriend."

Lanie didn't miss the pause in Kate's voice but let it pass for now, "Who you just happen to call to do things that you usually do with your partner."

Kate stared at Lanie for a moment, picked up her glass of wine and drained it with one gulp. She then waved to the waitress for another and looked around the bar, her eyes going everywhere except looking at Lanie.

"So what happens to Castle?" Lanie asked.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well if you partner with Demming, then Castle's just a fifth wheel and not needed."

"Of course he's needed," Kate replied in a huff.

The waitress came back with another glass of wine for Kate, saw that Lanie still had more than a half a glass, then left them alone. Lanie took a small sip of her wine and let the silence linger for a few minutes before she said, "Needed to get coffee?"

Kate quickly swallowed the sip she'd just taken from her glass, coughed once and asked, "What?"

Lanie snapped her fingers and said, "Oh that's right. Tom gets you your morning coffee now, not Castle."

"Uhhh…"

"But didn't you ask Castle to get you and Tom a coffee when he kept interrupting your theory building?"

Kate put down her glass and asked, "No! Where are you getting this from?"

"Seems like Tom's in Homicide a lot lately. Maybe he'll transfer up and you can be with him all the time."

"Lanie, what's your problem with Tom?"

Lanie gave Kate an innocent look. "Oh I have no problem with Tom, Kate. He's your boyfriend and evidently your new partner as well. Any money I lost betting on you two is my own fault. I'm just wondering what's going to happen to Castle, that's all."

Kate narrowed her eyes and looked at Lanie but before she could say anything Lanie snapped her fingers and said, "Hey! Maybe he can shadow another detective! Since you don't need him any more, maybe someone else will."

"Why would he want to do that?" Kate asked.

"Well he comes in and instead of working with him you send him for coffee."

Kate snorted, "I did not! And it's not like he's getting paid for coming in."

"Really?" Lanie asked sarcastically. "I never knew that!"

"Lanie…"

Lanie raised her hand to stop Kate. "Yet he's there all the time, all hours of the day or night…whenever you call him as a matter of fact!"

A puzzled look came over Kate's face.

Lanie shook her head and said, "Just think about it Kate, and remember how it was last summer when he wasn't around."

Kate shook her head and asked, "What's this got to do with Tom?"

"Sounds like you're trading Castle in for Demming."

Kate sighed, "Lanie, just where are you hearing this from?"

Lanie smiled, "I have my sources."

"Well, they should mind their own business and leave mine alone!"

"When you change partners it affects everyone."

"I'm not changing partners, Lanie! I'm dating Tom."

"Ahh, that's right. You're dating and I just found out." She glared at Kate and asked in a no nonsense manner, "How long?"

Kate looked at her glass and said, "Just a couple of weeks."

"Go anywhere special?"

Kate shook her head, "No, just a couple of times for burgers after work. He had to cancel our first date because his Lieutenant wanted all the paperwork finished for a case, so we plan to go out tomorrow night."

Lanie's eyes opened wide, "Wow! Sounds serious!" she said sarcastically.

Kate gave her a puzzled look and Lanie said, "First date cancelled for paperwork. Sounds like he's really into you, Kate."

Kate stared at her friend for a bit before she said, "He did make it up by a candlelight Chinese dinner at the precinct…from Hung's China Sea, who only delivers to Tom because he solved their robbery case a few years back."

Lanie smiled, "Oh, so he knows a guy."

"Lanie!"

"So how was the dinner?"

"We had to cut it short when I went to pick up my friend Maddie as the evidence we had made it look like she was involved in a murder."

"I heard about that," Lanie said. "She was out with Castle, right?"

Kate suddenly looked uncomfortable and shook her head, "It wasn't a date, Lanie," Kate replied quickly. "He just went to help her out at a tasting, it really wasn't a date. He probably wanted to get more background information for Nikki."

"Oh please!"

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

"He's fascinated by _you_, Kate, not Nikki!"

Kate shook her head, "I doubt it. He was pretty upset that I pulled them from the restaurant."

Lanie smiled, "I heard about that."

With a confused look Kate said, "Huh?"

"Castle babies?" Lanie said with a big smile.

Kate put her head in her hand, "Oh God."

"So you're not thinking about them?"

"No!"

With a grin Lanie asked, "Demming babies maybe?"

"Lanie! We've only kissed a few times, and nothing really earth shattering."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, oh!" Kate replied.

They were silent for a few minutes, sipping their wine and letting their minds wander when Lanie quietly said, "You know, sometimes you don't know what you have until it's gone."

Kate looked up from her glass and asked, "What do you mean?"

Lanie looked at Kate and with all seriousness said, "Kate, if Demming is who you want, and he makes you happy, then I'm happy for you. But if he's just a reaction, if you're with him to prove something to someone else, or even yourself, then I think you're making a mistake that will turn around and hurt you. Hurt you badly."

"Lanie, I don't…"

Lanie put her hand on Kate's, "A couple of months ago you admitted there was something there between you and Castle, since then he's proven himself to be even more than either of us thought he was and yet you are pushing him away…or rather, pushing Demming in his face."

"Lanie, that's not…"

"Maybe it is and maybe it's not, but Kate, that's what it looks like. I only hope you're not making a big mistake, but I'm afraid you are."

Kate shook her head. "No Lanie. Tom's a good guy. He's dependable, he's steady, he doesn't rock the boat. I know where I stand with him and I know what to expect." She paused a moment then said, "Castle only wants one thing and he can easily get it from Ellie Monroe or others like her, and don't forget, he still has his deep fried twinkie. I'm not making a mistake Lanie; I should really thank Ellie Monroe for helping me keep from possibly making one."

Lanie signaled the waitress again for another two glasses of wine, when the waitress nodded her head Lanie looked back at Kate and said, "I hope so Kate, for all our sakes, I really do hope so.

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**AUTHORS NOTE: I think it's a given that the whole Demming fiasco occurred because Castle slept with Ellie Monroe. Although I still can't watch the episodes he appears in and I've never written him in a sympathetic way, I can't help but feel that Demming was used. Overall his character was a decent man who happened along at the wrong time and got caught up in the storm that is Caskett, getting beat up, bruised and hurt in the process. Somewhere out there in TV land, I hope that he found a really nice woman who loves him, wants to be with him and has settled down to a life of happiness.**


	6. Chapter 6

Girls Night

Chapter 6, October 2010

Alternate title: With a whimper or a bang the results are the same.

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Disclaimer: Everything is still located in chapters one and two.

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Lanie walked to the door and looked around the darkened room. The bar was packed and she didn't see Kate there, but then she noticed Castle standing in the lounge waving her over. As she drew near, he pointed to a booth near the corner, and when she got close enough he said, "She's over there, Lanie. I made sure that no one interrupted her and I don't think she saw me since she's facing the other direction."

"Thanks, Castle. The boys were looking all over, how did you find her?"

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "I know a few guys who owe me favors."

She patted his shoulder and said, "You're a good man Castle, thanks for finding and watching out for my girl."

"No problem Lanie, I'm just glad we found her."

As he turned and headed towards the door Lanie asked, "Hey, didn't you have a dinner date with Gina tonight?"

Castle gave a slight smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Yeah. After the first hundred calls I finally had to block her number, and from the few messages I heard, she's not very happy with me right now."

Lanie nodded her head slowly, "Thanks, Castle. If you need an alibi the boys and I will cover for you."

He nodded his head and walked out of the bar as Lanie turned and made her way to the booth where Kate was sitting, trying to drink her way to oblivion.

As she came to the booth, she saw a slickly dressed man checking Kate out. His eyes glanced to where Castle had been standing and seeing him gone, he started to move to go to her booth. Lanie caught his eye and shook her head no, giving him a look that said he would regret not following her instructions. Luckily for him he did and sat back down. Lanie nodded her head and then sat opposite Kate, looking closely at her friend.

Her hair wasn't too badly mussed, so she hadn't been running her hands through it, but her eyes were red and puffy, the mascara long gone, and it looked like she had more than enough to drink to put her over the edge. For the first time in a long, long time, Lanie saw Kate Beckett drunk.

Kate didn't even notice that Lanie was there; she just picked up one of the shots in front of her and downed it in one gulp. She put the glass down and stared at it, as if wondering where the liquor disappeared.

Lanie watched her friend and hurt for her. If there was any way she could take away the pain she would, but nothing today would help. Kate needed to work this out of her system, she needed to purge herself of the pain, to drink till she passed out and didn't feel anything anymore.

A waitress appeared and asked Lanie if she wanted anything. Lanie asked for a glass of ginger ale and then told the waitress to bring Kate anything she wanted; she was going to make sure Kate got home safely.

The waitress looked closely at Lanie, then at Kate, nodded her head and walked back to the bar. Kate never even glanced up during the conversation; she just reached for another shot and drank it down. There were still three more in front of her.

The waitress came back with the ginger-ale for Lanie and placed it in front of her. She then turned to Kate and asked if she wanted anything else. After a few seconds of silence the waitress asked again. Kate simply picked up another shot glass and drank it down, then placed it with the other empty glasses. "More", she said, pointing to the two remaining shot glasses.

The waitress nodded her head, picked up the empty glasses and headed back to the bar. Lanie still didn't speak; she simply sat there with her friend, silently supporting her…silently wishing she could take away the hurt that Kate was so plainly feeling.

The waitress came back with three more shot glasses full of something, Lanie couldn't tell, but she thought it was probably vodka since it was so clear. Vodka was usually Kate's drink of choice when she wanted to forget, and based on what Lanie heard from Esposito, Kate definitely wanted to forget the last couple of days.

Kate looked at the new glasses in front of her and sighed, "I loved him Lanie," she said with a soft and broken voice. "I really did."

"I know, Kate," Lanie said quietly in return.

Kate downed one of the shots in front of her and then looked at the empty glass. "After my mom…" she paused and swallowed, tears forming in her eyes. "After my mom it was so hard. My dad poured himself into a bottle and hardly ever came out and I tried so hard…" her voice broke as a sob escaped her.

"Yeah?" Lanie asked with encouragement. She knew that Kate had to unload the weight she was carrying before it crushed her.

Kate picked up another glass and drank that shot down quickly before placing it back in front of her, her eyes solidly upon it. "The only thing that kept me going was the academy and then being assigned to a trainer." She stopped speaking and looked up at Lanie, "He was everything to me Lanie. He kept me from simply giving up."

Lanie watched Kate as she stared straight ahead at nothing while tears began to fall from her eyes. Still looking at nothing Kate said, "I wanted him so bad, Lanie. So bad." She shook her head and added, "God, I was pathetic. It was so obvious what I wanted from him, but when he kept refusing I pushed harder until he finally just left."

Kate stopped again and after a few minutes of watching silent tears fall from her friend's eyes, Lanie asked, "He up and left?"

Kate nodded her head, "Yeah, just like everyone does."

Lanie looked at her friend with sadness and said, "I never met him Kate, but I was told that Royce was very proud of you. That everything he said showed that he cared for you. That he left because he felt he'd hold you back and you were destined for better things."

Lanie noticed that while still falling, Kate's tears were not as heavy as before, even though it looked like the alcohol she consumed was finally about to win this round.

With exaggerated care Kate picked up another shot glass and this time sipped from it as the two women sat quietly. Finally something occurred to Kate and a crease appeared between her eyes, "Lanie?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you find me?"

Lanie knew he was still a touchy subject with Kate, after all it had only been a short time since he returned from the summer, but she couldn't lie to her, especially now. "Castle," she said, watching Kate closely.

However instead of being upset or angry, Kate just gave a wistful smile and then leaned over the table as if to confide some deep secret to Lanie. "He helped me find the treasure last night."

"Treasure?" Lanie asked.

Kate nodded her head and Lanie could see that it wouldn't be long before the alcohol would make it difficult for Kate to even perform that simple task. "Yeah, the buried treasure in the cemetery that everyone was looking for." Kate then smiled a full smile and sat up straight, "_We_ found it," she said with pride.

She looked off into space for a moment then looked at Lanie and gave a full smile, "He had me take a photo of him with his hands running through it while he talked like a pirate."

Lanie smiled in return. No one could make Kate's emotions go all over the place like Castle. She sighed inwardly at all the lost opportunities they had last spring and how messed up things were now.

She watched as Kate oh so carefully raised the last glass to her lips and started drinking it down. Her hand was shaky and Lanie knew this would be her last one. When she finished, Kate looked at Lanie with watery eyes and leaned forward again, beckoning Lanie to do the same. As Lanie leaned forward Kate whispered, her words somewhat slurred, "He's dying to hear me say 'fallacious' you know."

With a puzzled look on her face Lanie asked, "Who? What?"

Kate waved her hand and said, "Castle, who else? It happened last winter when I met Joe Torre." Kate's face suddenly changed and it looked to Lanie as if a wall of sadness had fallen upon her. "It hurts Lanie," she said while the tears began to fall again. "It hurts so bad."

Lanie got up from her side of the booth and moved to sit next to Kate and put her arm around her hurting friend. She caught the eye of the waitress and asked for the bill and as soon as it was paid helped Kate get up from the booth. "Come on girl, we have to get you home. You're going to collapse any minute now."

Kate just nodded her head and leaned into Lanie, "Don't tell Castle I said fallacious," she said as they were heading out the door. Lanie simply nodded her head as she helped steer Kate to her cruiser. Digging the keys out of Kate's purse, Lanie helped her into the passenger seat and then walked around to the driver's side.

As she sat behind the wheel and put on her seat belt before adjusting the seat, she heard Kate quietly crying beside her. "It hurts so much Lanie, it just hurts so much."

Lanie patted Kate's shoulder and started the car. "I know Kate, I know," she said as she pulled the car away from the curb.

This was going to be a long night. As Kate's friend, Lanie knew that there would be more tears and more conversation to come. Sometimes all you can do is hold someone while they fall apart, and Lanie wasn't ever going to let her friend down when she was needed. Never.

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**AUTHORS NOTE: I think we all remember the look on Kate's face as she walked away from Castle and the boys after speaking to Royce on the phone. I felt that her pain needed to be shown, the almost overwhelming sadness at the fall of her hero, even though Kate would be the first to tell us they have feet of clay. As happens this chapter got away from me and wrote itself. And a shout out and thanks to Dmarx for reminding me about the treasure in her wonderful story, "It's Not a Date".**


	7. Chapter 7

Girls Night

Chapter 7, October 2010

Alternate title: Writing books and open-heart surgery, they can both save lives.

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Disclaimer: See Chapters three or four which will refer you to chapters one and two. Or simply just go to one and two.

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"I don't want to talk about him," Kate said with a determined glint in her eye.

"Too bad, I do," Lanie said, undeterred by the look Kate was giving her.

Kate sighed, "Lanie, I don't want to talk about Castle…"

"Who said anything about Castle?" Lanie interrupted. "I'm interested in," she paused and thought a moment then snapped her fingers as she remembered, "Josh!"

"Josh?" Kate asked in surprise.

"Yeah, Josh." Lanie said, and then leaned in toward Kate, "Where'd he come from?"

Kate smiled with a glint in her eye, "You're a doctor, Lanie. Didn't they teach you where babies come from?"

Lanie glared at Kate but couldn't hold back her smile, "Ha. Ha. Very funny. You know what I mean."

Still smiling Kate said, "I thought it was pretty good."

"Don't make me kick your skinny butt," Lanie said as she tried to hold back another smile.

Kate took a sip of her wine and said, "Oh please, like you could."

Lanie lightly slapped Kate's arm and said, "Spill."

Kate smiled and said, "We've only been dating a short time," at Lanie's questioning look she added, "Maybe a week or two after Castle came back."

"You mean after you allowed him back."

"What?"

"I know all about the bet you had with Writer boy, and…" Lanie paused and watched Kate carefully, "I know how you purposely lost the bet so he could stay."

'Bingo!' Lanie thought, when she saw the look on Kate's face.

Kate quickly put on a poker face and said, "Please, I didn't throw the bet."

"Uh huh."

"And I thought you wanted to talk about Josh, not Castle."

"Oh I'm flexible, Kate. I can talk about anyone at any time."

Now that Kate looked even more confused Lanie said, "So where did you meet him?"

"Who?"

"Josh, of course! Unless you've got another boyfriend hidden away from us."

"Oh! So that's what this is about," Kate said. "You're upset that I didn't tell you about Josh."

Lanie snorted and said, "Yeah, right. So where did you meet him?"

Kate picked up a carrot stick, dunked it in some ranch dressing and said, "Remember when I took that long weekend and rode my bike up to my dad's cabin?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that Sunday when I was headed home it started to rain so I pulled over at a diner to wait it out and he was doing the same."

"He rides a motorcycle?"

Kate smiled and said, "Uh huh."

"So you immediately had something in common."

"Yeah, even though he rides a Honda and not a Harley."

Lanie smiled and took a sip of her wine, "Well, they both start with the same letter."

"Please, there's no comparison."

Lanie smiled at Kate's Harley prejudice when suddenly it dawned on her, "Hey! You went up there in August!"

"Yeah?"

"You've been dating him since August? Girl we were all on pins and needles making sure not to mention Castle's name because you were unhappy he hadn't called and you were dating Josh?"

"What?"

"Kate, you practically moped around the precinct the entire summer! Hell, how many times did I ask you to get together and you kept saying no, and you had Josh for part of that time?"

Kate shook her head and said, "Ok, first, I wasn't moping this summer just because Castle was too busy with his ex-wife to pick up a phone."

Lanie snorted and replied, "Phones work both ways, you know."

Kate looked closely at Lanie and asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lanie picked up her wine and took a sip, "Nothing," then waved her hand at Kate, "Go on, what were you saying?"

Kate took a moment to get back on her train of thought and said, "Second, no I wasn't dating Josh then even though he did ask me out."

"You were so moping around the precinct," Lanie said, then added, "Ok, so when did you start dating him?"

Kate looked down at her glass and mumbled something that Lanie didn't hear. "What was that? Stop mumbling to your wine and talk to me."

Kate looked up and said, "About two weeks after Castle came back."

Lanie thought for a moment and said, "Wasn't that around the time…?" then paused as she remembered how painful the memory of Royce's betrayal was for Kate.

Kate nodded her head slowly and said, "Yeah. I had lunch with my dad and when I was leaving the café I bumped into Josh as he was walking in. He offered to buy me lunch but I'd already eaten and then he asked if I'd at least have a coffee with him. Since I still had time and my dad had already left I said ok and I joined him. One thing led to another and I accepted when he asked me out."

Lanie nodded her head and decided that she had to get Kate's mind away from any memories of Royce. "What does he do and do we need to investigate him?"

Kate smiled and said, "You don't need to investigate him and he's a doctor…a surgeon really, who specializes in cardiology."

Lanie nodded her head and said, "That explains it."

Kate looked puzzled and asked, "Explains what?"

"His attitude."

"What attitude?"

"The condescending attitude."

"He's not condescending, Lanie!" Kate said with some heat. "He's a caring man who donates his time and talent to help others less fortunate."

Lanie nodded her head and said, "I have no reason to doubt you Kate, but that's not quite what I heard."

Kate narrowed her eyes and said, "What did you hear?"

"Kate, I have no doubt that when he's with you Josh is a great boyfriend and makes you happy, and if he does, that makes me happy too."

"He does, yet I sense a "but" in there somewhere."

Lanie nodded her head, "Mmm hmm, it's the way a person treats others that shows who he really is."

Kate smiled and said, "Well you have nothing to worry about then, because Josh donates time to Doctors Without Borders a few times a year."

Lanie nodded her head and said, "That's nice…", but Kate was still speaking, "The other surgeons know they can count on him to help when they need it. As a matter of fact the other morning he had to cancel breakfast with me in order to go in and perform open heart surgery to save a man's life."

"He sounds really nice."

"He is," Kate said but Lanie continued speaking. "But from what I heard he also can come across as condescending and arrogant." Lanie said.

"What?" Kate exclaimed.

Lanie put up her hand, made the sign of quotation marks and quoted, "Hey boys, catch any bad guys today?"

"What do you mean?" Kate asked.

"Boys?" Lanie questioned.

"They are my boys," Kate replied. "You've called them that yourself."

"But they aren't strangers to me."

"Ryan and Esposito…"

"Castle." Lanie added.

Kate waved her hand with a sigh, "Whatever."

"And Montgomery?" Lanie asked.

"Huh?" Kate said with her mouth open.

"You consider Captain Montgomery one of your boys?"

"Of course not!" Kate said.

"So why would Josh call him one?" Lanie asked.

"He didn't…"

"Oh yes he did. Esposito, Ryan, Castle and Montgomery were standing there when Josh called them boys."

"So?"

"So from what I heard, Captain Montgomery isn't too impressed with your new boyfriend's lack of respect."

"Lanie, that's…"

Lanie put up her hand to stop Kate and said, "Whatever, Kate. But you might want to remind your boyfriend that cops are as important as doctors, especially police captains."

Kate shook her head, "I don't think…"

Lanie put her hand on Kate's arm, "Kate, don't bother with what you think he meant or not, just know that Montgomery was not happy." Lanie paused a moment and added, "I'm just givin' you a heads up girl."

Kate paused a moment, thinking about something before she said, "He's not the only one who doesn't seem happy with Josh."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Castle's been acting a bit weird since Josh came to the precinct."

"Well, being referred to as a 'boy'…"

Kate barked a laugh, "Oh please, if anyone deserves the title, he does!"

Lanie shook her head, "Again Kate, you and I know that, but Josh never met him before. We tend to forget that Castle is a world famous author with a couple dozen best selling books under his belt."

Kate paused for a moment and said, "Ok, but come on Lanie, Castle writes stories while Josh saves lives. There's no comparison."

Lanie stared at Kate for almost a minute before Kate finally asked, "What?"

"Weren't you the one who told me those stories of Castle's helped save _your_ life?"

Kate had opened her mouth to reply but Lanie's words simply stopped her cold. Lanie continued and said, "Kate, if Josh makes you happy, and from what you say he does, then I'm going to support you and him one hundred and ten percent. You are my friend, my best friend, and I only want you to be happy."

Kate looked at Lanie and smiled softly, "Thanks, Lanie. He does. I know we both have crazy schedules and we're going to have to cancel on each other, but when we're together it's good, Lanie. It's really good."

Lanie reached over and patted Kate's hand. "Then I'm happy for you Kate," she paused for a moment and a wicked gleam came into her eye, "So when am I going to meet him?"

"Hmmm? What?" Kate replied.

"When am I going to meet him? The man needs to be vetted, Kate." At the surprised look on Kate's face Lanie added, "You've done the same for me."

Kate quickly gulped down the rest of her drink, "Let me get back to you on that."

Lanie chuckled and said, "Nice stall tactic girl, but I'll keep trying."

Kate waved to their waiter for another drink, she had a feeling she was going to need it.

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**AUTHORS NOTE: From what we saw in the first few episodes of season 3, I firmly believe that Kate and Josh only started dating after Castle came back and Kate knew he was still with Gina. Unfortunately for Josh, if you look up the word "Rebound" in the dictionary you'll see his photo. As much of a Castle shipper as Lanie was, I have no doubt that her first priority was Kate and her happiness, and if that meant Josh and not Castle, then so be it, in spite of the fact that he came across as arrogant when he met the team at the end of 'Punked". But honestly, wouldn't you have loved to see Lanie vetting Josh? That would have been priceless. ;-)**


	8. Chapter 8

Girls Night

by RGoodfellow64

Chapter 8, Nov. 2010

Alternate title: Would have been a lot more fun if they were hickeys.

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Disclaimer: Too tired to think of something original, see chapter 1.

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Kate walked into what she and Lanie were now calling 'Ryan's place', the nice quiet bar where they haven't been bothered when getting together. Looking around she saw Lanie sitting at a booth and walked over to her. As she made her way to Lanie, Kate noticed she'd already ordered their wine.

When Kate arrived at the booth Lanie stood up. "Hi Lanie," Kate said with a smile, "Thanks for order…what are you doing?"

Lanie was examining the side of Kate's neck, "Where is it? The other side?"

As Lanie moved around to check the other side of her neck, Kate asked, "What are you looking for?"

With a distracted voice Lanie answered, "The hickey…oh! There it is!"

Kate pulled away and sat down, "It's _not_ a hickey, Lanie!"

Lanie sat across from Kate and with a smirk said, "Sure looks like one."

"Well it isn't!" Kate said heatedly.

"Um hmmm."

"Really, Lanie, it isn't." At Lanie's unconvinced look she added, "Castle has one too."

Lanie raised her eyebrows and Kate quickly added with a frustrated sigh, "His isn't a hickey either!"

As Lanie smiled and nodded her head, Kate closed her eyes. "Oh God," she said as she picked up her wine and drained half the glass in one gulp.

Her eyes dancing with laughter Lanie said, "I ordered us an appetizer," just as a server arrived at their booth and placed a large plate of shrimp in front of them.

"Mmmmm," Kate said, as she picked up a shrimp and dipped it into the cocktail sauce, "This is just what I need. Castle ate the last of my Skittles so I haven't had anything since lunch," she added, just before taking a bite and moaning in pleasure again.

"What about the vending machine?" Lanie asked, as she picked up her own shrimp.

Kate swallowed and said, "Still hasn't been refilled." Suddenly an idea came to her and she quickly added, "Esposito ate the last of the pork rinds."

Lanie's eyebrows shot up, "He ate pork rinds?" she asked.

Kate smiled; something she and Castle were pretty sure of had just been verified. She decided to really play it up and shuddered with revulsion before adding, "Yeah, they really looked greasy too."

The shrimp still hanging from her hand, Lanie said in a plaintive voice, "Greasy?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders as if it were nothing, but inwardly she was smiling. She picked up another shrimp, "He's not exactly known for eating healthy, you know."

As Kate dipped her shrimp in the sauce, she looked up through her hair, surreptitiously watching her friend and hiding a smile, not only were she and Castle going to win their bet with Ryan, she managed to get Lanie's mind off the hick…the bruise on her neck.

Kate picked up a third shrimp and dipped it in the sauce before taking a bite. This was exactly what she needed. She had no idea she was so hungry. Although the salad Castle brought her for lunch had been delicious, and she really had to remember to ask him where he got it, it wasn't enough to hold back her hunger all day. She simply couldn't stand the thought of eating Chinese for lunch after running though the restaurant's basement last night.

Thinking about the chase in the labyrinthine basements, Kate was soon so lost in thought about what Agent Westfield said to her, and Castle's barrage of questions afterwards, that she didn't realize she was smiling. Lanie did though. "What are you smiling about?" she asked.

Kate shook her head, looked up at Lanie and said, "Nothing." She paused a moment and asked, "So what's new with you?"

Lanie shrugged her shoulders and suddenly remembered she had a shrimp in her hand. She dunked it in the cocktail sauce and took a bite before she said, "Not much, same old same old."

Kate smiled as she reached for her wine to take a sip. Lanie was her best friend; they'd known each other for years and after all this time Kate knew when she was trying to hide something. She watched as Lanie picked up her wine and just as she took a sip asked, "Esposito still flirting with you?"

Lanie coughed as the wine went down the wrong way and quickly put her glass on the table. Kate watched as she tried to compose herself, and started thinking how she could get away from Lanie for a few minutes so she could call Castle. She really didn't want to wait till tomorrow to tell him what she discovered.

Clearing her throat Lanie said, "What?"

"Esposito? Flirting? You know the thing you guys have been doing for a while now?"

"Uhhh,"

Seeing the deer in the headlights look on Lanie's face, Kate just couldn't stop playing with her. "What? Did something happen? Because if he said or did something to upset you, I'll set him straight."

"No!" Lanie exclaimed. At the surprised look on Kate's face she added, "I mean, no, you don't have to talk to him!"

Kate raised one eyebrow and stared at her friend. It worked when she was interrogating prisoners and it worked now as well since Lanie quickly said, "He didn't do or say anything, things are good."

"Good?" Kate asked, hiding a grin. "You mean you decided to see if his flirting was serious or not?"

Lanie had been about to bite into her shrimp when Kate asked her question and she stopped with her mouth open. Kate was finding it harder and harder to keep a straight face and knew that she and Castle were going to have a lot to laugh over when she told him about tonight's conversation.

Unable to come up with a plausible answer Lanie decided to change the subject, "So how's Josh?" she asked.

Kate smirked at Lanie's obvious attempt to change the subject. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "He was good the last time I spoke to him."

Lanie raised her eyebrows, "Huh? When you last spoke to him? What do you mean when you last spoke to him, aren't you two still dating?"

Kate raised her glass to take another sip, "Yeah."

Lanie was confused, "When did you last speak to him?"

"About five days ago," Kate replied, as if it was no big deal.

"It's been five days? How come?"

Kate put down her glass, "Between his work schedule and mine it's not that easy to find time to get together…"

Lanie interrupted, "Ok, hold on. It's possible not to see each other for five days, but not to talk to each other?"

Kate gave Lanie a hard look, "If you'd let me finish I was going to say that not only were our schedules conflicting, but he left for Miami three days ago for a Doctors Without Borders conference."

"Doctors Without Borders Conference?" Lanie asked.

"Well its part conference and part informational, they're going over the upcoming schedule for next year and preparing for those trips."

"How long will he be there?"

"He should be back by next week, but then he has to go to Houston for a seminar on a new cardiac procedure that some doctor is doing there."

"How long will he be there?"

"Maybe a week? Maybe less, I really don't know."

"Are you sure you guys are dating?"

A puzzled look came over Kate, "Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"I still say that it's possible to not see each other for days at a time when you're in a relationship, but to not talk to them? Doesn't he have a phone?"

"Of course he does."

"Does he know how to use it?"

"Lanie!"

"Oh come on Kate," Lanie said, "It's not like he's in outer Mongolia or someplace without phone service, he's in Miami for crying out loud!"

"And your point is?"

"He has no time to call you?"

"We had a case, Lanie. I've been busy."

"Too busy for him to call and leave a message?"

Kate shook her head, "Lanie…leave it alone please. We're good."

Lanie looked at her friend closely and didn't see any of the tell tale signs of an impending breakup so she nodded her head and picked up her wine.

As Lanie took a sip of her wine and reached for another shrimp, Kate pulled out her phone to check if she had any messages. She thought she heard the sound of a text message and she was right, there were two from Castle. She smiled and opened the first one which read, 'Ok, nothing about Bigfoot, Loch Ness or Area 51, but what about Zombies?'

Kate couldn't hold back the big smile and laugh the text brought.

Lanie looked up at her and asked, "What?"

Kate shook her head and chuckled again, "Castle," she said.

"What about him?"

"He's still trying to find out what Agent Westfield told me before he left last night."

"Wasn't Castle there?"

"Yeah, he was, but Westfield pulled me aside to talk to me and Castle is positive he told me some big secret about Bigfoot, Loch Ness, or Area 51, and now he's asking about Zombies."

Lanie shook her head and smiled, noticing the happy look on Kate's face. "What did Westfield say to you?"

Kate smiled and said, "That's what's so great about it Lanie, all he did was thank me and ask me to pass on those thanks to the rest of the team. Castle asked me what he said, I saw an opening and took it."

Lanie started to laugh, "Oh God, he's going to probably look up every strange phenomena that's ever been recorded and ask you about it."

Kate's eyes were dancing as she replied, "Oh yeah, and believe me Lanie, he's never going to find out what Westfield really said."

Lanie raised her glass in salute to Kate and said, "He won't hear it from me either."

Kate nodded her head and sent a quick one word reply to Castle, 'Nope,' then looked up at Lanie and said, "It's good to see him smiling more now."

Lanie knew what Kate meant by that since they'd all been worried about Castle and Ryan after the 3XK case. Kate mentioned a few times the worry she'd see in Castle's eyes when he arrived at a murder scene. Even Lanie noticed how Castle and Ryan would check the victim just to be sure Tyson wasn't involved.

Kate was unaware of Lanie's thoughts as she saved Castle's text and opened the second one, which according to the time stamp had been sent only a few minutes before. 'Alexis made too much lasagna; I'll bring some 4 lunch tomorrow.'

Kate smiled and was about to reply when she got another text from Castle, 'Don't worry, I won't forget the extra parmesan.'

"Smart man," she said under her breath. Castle knew that she liked extra parmesan cheese on her lasagna. She typed back, 'Thnx. With Lanie now, will call later. Big news.'

As Kate put down her phone she saw Lanie staring at her. "What?"

"You gonna stay here with me or would you rather text writer boy?"

"Girls night Lanie, it always comes first," Kate replied, just as her phone beeped that she had another new text, again from Castle, this time letting her know he couldn't wait but that he would because he had no choice.

Kate chuckled and put her phone back in her purse, looked back to Lanie and said, "What were we talking about?"

Lanie looked back at Kate then caught the eye of their waitress and signaled for two more glasses of wine. She picked up a shrimp to give her some more time to answer. There was something percolating in her mind and she wanted to get a grip on it. Taking a bite of her shrimp she said, "It's nice to see you smiling more too. So do you have any plans for Thanksgiving?"

"Well my dad and I will get together the night before, just like always and I plan to work like I always do."

"No plans with Josh?"

Kate shook her head, "No. He's on shift and even if he wasn't, I've been working Thanksgiving and Christmas ever since I became a cop. I'm not about to change now."

"What about your birthday?"

"He won't be around and I never told him when it is anyway," Kate replied. "I'll spend it with my dad."

The something in her mind was really percolating now and Lanie simply nodded as Kate changed the subject. Lanie only half listened as Kate began to tell her about the dinner party Castle had with Ashley's parents, Ashley being Alexis' boyfriend. She only half listened because she was thinking…thinking how Castle was with Gina and Kate was with Josh yet they both seemed to spend more time with each other than the people they were dating.

Actually, now that she thought about it, Lanie realized they both talked about the other more than they did their significant others. She didn't know why that was, but something told her that in itself was significant.

Smiling at the play on words she gave her attention back to Kate and her story about Castle.

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**AUTHORS NOTE: We all remember that Kate had a lot of fun teasing Castle about what Westfield told her, and we all know that Castle really did wish it was a hickey on their necks. Even as early as Close Encounters you could see a closeness between Beckett and Castle that wasn't quite there yet in season 2. It only got stronger as the season progressed. As I wrote in chapter 7's authors note if you look up the word 'rebound' in the dictionary you will see Josh's picture. He never really had a chance…too bad Rick and Kate didn't know that at the time. **


	9. Chapter 9

Girls Night

Chapter 9, January 2011

Alternate title: Not fooling anybody, only ourselves.

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Disclaimer: See chapter 1

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Semi Authors Note: For the purposes of this story 'Poof You're Dead' and 'Nikki Heat' are in their original order.

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"So this is Castle's place, huh?" Lanie asked while looking around the old bar.

"Yeah, for a little over a month now," Kate replied as she led them towards the end of the room.

Lanie stopped for a moment, looked at the wall and then exclaimed, "Hey, you're right. He _was_ cute back then."

Kate turned to look at Lanie with a smile and Lanie added, "Of course if you ask me he's still not hard on the eyes."

This elicited an eye roll from Kate and a smirk from Lanie as they made their way past the bar to the tables beyond. As they walked past the bar Kate nodded to the bartender who nodded back, "Detective Beckett," he said in greeting.

"Hello Brian, may we have two glasses of Merlot please?"

"Sure thing, coming right up."

As Kate continued to a booth that had a reserved sign on it, Lanie asked, "You know him?"

Kate nodded as they made their way to the last booth at the end of the bar. "He was working here when Castle and I were investigating his boss's murder."

Lanie's eyes widened a bit as she sat down across from Kate, "Oh yeah, when your team and the captain went out to drink that expensive bottle of scotch."

Kate made a face and said, "I still don't see what all the fuss was about, it tasted like scotch and you know I never cared for the stuff."

Lanie simply nodded her head, understanding that Kate's reason was her father used to get drunk on scotch. Lanie was still surprised that Kate even took a sip of it that night.

Kate nodded to Brian and smiled when he came to the booth and placed a glass of wine in front of each of them, then with a flourish left the bottle in the middle of the table.

Kate raised her eyebrow and Brian said, "Orders from Mr. Castle," before he smiled and walked away.

"What's that all about?" Lanie asked.

Kate sighed and said, "I forgot, Castle refuses to let me pay for anything here."

Lanie had been about to take a sip when she stopped and asked, "You don't pay for anything here?"

Kate shook her head and said, "Nope."

Lanie put down her glass, raised her hand and called to the bar, "Brian, can we have a menu please?"

"Lanie!"

"What? I'm hungry."

Kate shook her head and took a sip of her wine. "I shouldn't have said a thing."

Brian gave them each a menu then headed back to the bar as two other customers came in.

Lanie picked up the menu and as she opened it asked, "Why shouldn't you tell me things like that?"

"Because it's Castle's money Lanie."

"So? He has plenty and if he wants to share it with us, I'm not about to argue with the man."

As Kate rolled her eyes Lanie added, "That's your job anyway. You're his work wife."

"Lanie!"

"Just sayin' girl," Lanie said as she looked through the menu. After deciding what to eat and getting Kate's order, Lanie walked to the bar and told Brian what they wanted. When she returned to the table and sat down Kate said, "I hope you didn't order everything on the menu."

Lanie smiled as she picked up her glass of wine, "Nah, just the most expensive things."

"Oh geez," Kate said as she rolled her eyes. The two women then sat quietly for a few moments, appreciating the wine when Lanie said, "I read in the paper that Castle and Gina broke up."

Kate looked across at her friend, nodded her head and said, "Yeah, I know."

Putting down her glass, Lanie leaned forward and said, "You know? And you didn't tell me?"

Kate gave a small smile and replied, "It wasn't my place to say anything, Lanie. Breaking up isn't easy on anyone, and it wasn't easy for Castle either."

Lanie nodded her head and asked, "How did you find out, did he tell you?"

Kate shook her head and said, "No. I went to get a bottle of water and overheard him talking to her on the phone." She fell silent as she thought about that moment. Lanie watched her and with a slight smile on her face asked, "So what did you do?"

"I walked out and later invited him to the comfort food truck for some mac and cheese." Kate chose not to tell Lanie about pulling the flowers out of her sleeve and the smile on Castle's face when she did. She merely smiled and picked up her glass.

As Kate sipped her wine, Lanie's smile grew and she waited till Kate put her glass down. "How's things with Josh?" she asked.

Sitting there at the Old Haunt, Kate started thinking about the time she left the bed and laptop to come to the Old Haunt when Castle called, leaving Josh alone for the rest of the night. She recalled how upset Josh was, because he was leaving soon for his conferences and that would be his last night with Kate for a while.

"_You're leaving? Now?" Josh asked._

"_We may have a break in the case…"_

"_Kate," Josh interrupted, "This is our last time together before I leave for Houston, do you really have to go?"_

_Kate sighed with little patience but kept her voice calm, "Josh, we're working a case."_

"_Does he have to call now? Look at the time!"_

_Kate straightened after putting on her boots and gave him a serious look. "Josh, when we're working a case you never know when inspiration will hit you."_

"_But did he have to call now? You've spent most of the evening looking at that computer and I have to be at the airport in less than eight hours!"_

"_He's my partner Josh." Kate paused and added, "If this idea came to me first, I'd have called him."_

"_But Kate…"_

"_Josh, when the hospital calls, do I complain that you have to leave?"_

"_That's different, Kate. I save lives."_

_Kate stared at him, unable to believe he'd actually said that. She slowly picked up her purse and walked out of his room, "Have a safe flight Josh," she said before she closed the door behind her._

This elicited memories of other times Josh was upset with Castle calling her at all hours, and due to one of those calls, Kate was unable to see Josh off at the airport when he left for his conference. It didn't help matters much that when he returned both their schedules were so full that they only had time to meet for lunch twice before he left for Doctors Without Borders. All this went through her mind before she simply said, "Good."

"Has he left yet?"

"Yeah", Kate replied. "He left about a week ago."

Lanie took a sip of her Merlot, "Where did he go?"

Kate paused a moment to think then said, "Africa? The Congo I think."

Lanie raised her eyebrow but made no other comment until she looked up at the bar. "Kate?"

"Yeah."

"Why is Brian shrinking?"

With a puzzled look on her face Kate said, "Huh?" and turned around to look at the bar. After a brief glance she smiled and turned back to Lanie, "He's just going down to the office."

"Office?"

"Yeah," Kate replied. "There's a door in the floor to Castle's private office."

Lanie smiled, "A door in the floor? Sounds like Dr. Seuss."

Kate grinned, "That's what Castle said, and then a few days later he added a photo of Dr. Seuss on the wall."

"He did?"

"Yeah," Kate replied. She looked over at the wall and said, "See the fifth photo from the left and three down? That's Dr. Seuss."

Lanie looked at the photo for a moment and said, "Funny, that's not how I pictured him."

Their conversation came to a halt as Brian arrived with a tray. He started placing the items on their table when Kate asked, "Is this all for us?"

Brian nodded and replied, "It's what the lady ordered, Detective."

When Brian finished and walked away Kate looked down at the full table. Lanie had ordered shrimp poppers, chicken poppers, fried mozzarella, chicken wings, shrimp scampi, two shrimp cocktails, pigs in a blanket and fried jalapeno peppers.

As Kate tried to put her mind around how much food was in front of them, Lanie rubbed her hands together and started in on one of the shrimp cocktails. Before she could put the shrimp in her mouth, Kate asked her, "What on earth are we going to do with all this food?"

Lanie smiled, took a bite of her shrimp and said, "That's what they make doggie bags for, Kate."

She watched as Lanie finished her shrimp and grabbed a second and looked at all the food again. Something clicked and she grinned, waiting till Lanie took a sip of her wine before saying, "You guys aren't fooling anyone, you know."

Lanie chocked on her wine as it went down the wrong way; her eyes were wide and after a few coughs she was finally able to speak, "Huh?"

Kate gave a sly smile and said, "Everyone knows."

Lanie shook her head in an attempt to collect herself and said, "Knows what? What does everyone know?"

Kate's smile widened and she replied, "Oh please! You and Esposito."

A look of shock came across Lanie's face, "Me and Esposito?" she asked.

Kate narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice, "Lanie…"

Lanie lowered her eyes and looked down at the spread on the table in front of her before she softly said, "Yeah." Then she looked up through her lashes and asked, "We're that obvious?"

Kate grinned and nodded her head, "Uh huh."

"Damn! And here I thought we were so good."

Kate shook her head and took a sip of her wine. "It's your eyes, Lanie."

"My eyes?"

A huge grin came across her face as Kate replied, "Yep. You keep undressing him with your eyes when you look at him."

Lanie blushed then grinned back, "Well, he looks really good without them."

Kate's smile disappeared and she sat back in her seat, raising her hand in front of her. "Not something I need to know Lanie, and definitely don't want to know!"

Kate's smile returned, "Of course Esposito didn't help any by claiming he saw Tobias Strange with his friend Ray."

A puzzled look came over Lanie, "Who the hell is Ray?" she asked.

"Funny, we asked ourselves the same thing." As Lanie was wondering who Ray was, Kate watched her friend closely. Lanie was happy, she could easily see that, and it made her happy to see Lanie in such a good place. However, that didn't stop her from having a little fun with her as well.

"How long?"

Lanie looked back at Kate, "Huh?"

"How long have you two been together?"

Lanie smiled and said, "Two weeks, three days and," she looked at her watch, "fourteen hours, give or take a minute or two."

Kate chuckled, "Well I can see how happy you are, and that makes me glad." She was quiet for a moment as Lanie grabbed another shrimp, and once she took a bite said, "So you want me to give him the talk?"

Lanie tried to swallow and started to cough. Taking a large gulp of her wine she finished swallowing and said, "What talk?"

"You know, the 'you hurt my friend and I know how to kill you' talk."

Lanie shook her head and laughed, "Nah, don't bother. I know more ways to hurt that man that he can even imagine."

Kate waited till Lanie was about to bite into a shrimp popper when she said, "Well how about I give you the talk then?"

The shrimp stopped about two inches from her mouth and Lanie asked, "Give me the talk?"

Kate nodded her head, "Yep. Remember I've known him longer than you have. You know how he gets all 'big brother' protective sometimes."

Lanie nodded her head yes, while still holding the popper in front of her mouth.

"Well I can get all 'big sister' protective sometimes too."

Lanie's eyes widened for a moment then they narrowed. She put the shrimp popper down and asked, "Big sister protective, huh?"

Kate smirked as she reached for a fried jalapeno pepper, "Yep," she replied as she took a bite. "Keep in mind that you're both my friends, so if something goes wrong, whichever one of you messed up has to deal with me."

Lanie smiled and shook her head, picked up the shrimp popper and sat quietly for a few minutes. Both she and Kate appreciating the time alone.

"When's Natalie Rhodes arriving?" Lanie asked after picking up a fried jalapeno.

"She should be here tomorrow or the next day."

"So she'll be following you around for a few days?"

"Yeah." Kate rolled her eyes, "She needs to get the feel of the real Nikki Heat."

Lanie grimaced, she knew how much Kate hated to be referred to as Nikki Heat. "It won't bother you to have her following your every move and watching you?"

Kate shrugged her shoulders and said, "Castle's been doing that for two years now."

Lanie smiled inwardly at that. Although Kate seemed to be oblivious to it, the fact remained that everyone could see that she not only tolerated Castle, she actually liked having him around.

Suddenly Kate's eyes narrowed and she said, "Don't think for a second you're changing the subject!"

Lanie gave Kate an innocent look and said, "Change of subject? What do you mean? I'm simply curious about your new shadow."

"She's not my shadow Lanie, she's only going to be here for a few days."

Lanie watched Kate take a sip of wine and said, "Like Castle?"

Surprised by Lanie's response Kate could only say, "Huh?"

"Well Castle was only going to be here to gather research for a book but it's almost two years and he's still here…on his third book now I believe."

Kate shook her head, "No Lanie. No. Nothing like Castle. Natalie has a movie to do and Castle…well, he's Castle," she finished lamely.

Lanie smiled and said, "Uh huh."

Now feeling annoyed Kate asked, "What?"

"Castle's in a class all by himself," Lanie replied.

"What does that…and you're changing the subject again!"

Lanie smiled sweetly, "Subject?"

"Yes! The subject of you and Esposito!"

Lanie saw the frustrated look on Kate's face and started to laugh. It was a very happy laugh, and she felt almost giddy with it. She'd wanted to talk to Kate from the moment she and Javi got together, but she also wanted to keep it secret, just between herself and Javier. With a joyful smile on her face Lanie said, "Sometimes you're too easy. Yes Kate, me and Javier…"

When Lanie paused for a moment, Kate saw a transformation come over her friend, her whole countenance changed and she looked happy, so very happy.

"God, Kate, it's so great being with him, I don't know why I fought it for so long."

Kate sat back and listened as Lanie started to speak. From the sounds of it, it looked like it was going to be a long evening.

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**AUTHORS NOTE: Although it was finished a couple of weeks ago, I apologize for the delay in publishing this chapter. Aside from how busy we've been and then our vacation, we were hit with tragedy as well. I lost my biggest fan when my Mom passed away last week. It was sudden and totally unexpected and a huge blow to us all. Dealing with insurance companies, the funeral home, newspapers, the cemetery along with writing her obituary and eulogy is a lot harder than I ever thought. I miss her terribly and dedicate this chapter, and all my Castle stories, to her. Hope you like it Mom. **


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